I had my friend, Amy, over for dinner on Monday night and boy did we have fun in the kitchen! We made leek beggar purses and a kale, barley, tomato, pesto dish. We were so proud of ourselves after all that cooking!

Heather's Quinoa Recipe

If you don't have the time or inclination to roast cherry tomatoes, substitute some chopped, moist, sun-dried tomatoes. Also, a delicious alternative to the tofu in this recipe might be paneer cheese which can stand up to the heat without losing its form. Vegans can leave out the Parmesan in the pesto and make it more of a basil-nut drizzle - still tasty, and a good fit for this recipe.

a splash of extra-virgin olive oil
a pinch of fine grain sea salt
1 shallot, minced
3 cups cooked quinoa* (or brown rice, or other grain)--used barley
1 cup corn, fresh or frozen--didn't use
1 1/2 cups kale, spinach or other hearty green, finely chopped--used lots of kale!!
2 cups extra-firm nigari tofu, browned in a skillet a bit--didn't use
1/3 cup pesto
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted--didn't use
1/4 cup roasted cherry tomatoes** (or chopped sun-dried tomatoes)

In a big skillet or pot heat the olive oil and salt over medium-high heat. Stir in the shallot and cook for a minute or two. Stir in the quinoa and corn and cook until hot and sizzling. Stir in the kale and then the tofu, cooking until tofu is heated through. Remove the skillet from heat and stir in the pesto and pumpkin seeds. Mix well so the pesto is spread throughout. Turn everything out onto a platter and top with the cherry tomatoes.

Super delicious! We added bell peppers and pesto.

Serves 4 - 6.

*Rinse about 2 cups quinoa in a fine-meshed strainer. In a medium saucepan heat the quinoa and 4 cups water until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer until water is absorbed and quinoa fluffs up, about 15 minutes. Quinoa is done when you can see the curlique in each grain, and it is tender with a bit of pop to each bite. Drain any extra water and set aside.

** To roast cherry tomatoes: Heat oven to 350F degrees. Cut each tomato in half and arrange in a large oven-proof baking dish. Mix together a big splash of olive oil, a spoonful of brown sugar, and a few pinches of salt - pour this over the tomatoes. Gently toss them a bit, making sure they all get coated, finishing with each tomato facing cut-side up. Place in the oven and bake for 45 mintutes or so, until the tomatoes are shrunken and sweet.

Personal Note: roasting tomatoes is SO EASY and makes a HUGE difference! They were delicious and a great way to use up lots of tomatoes that I feared were going bad!

Leeks galore: Leek soup, leek tarts! YUM YUM YUM!

Onion and Leek Tart

This recipe is full of flavor even though it’s so easy! You can change it up a bit adding different vegetables or a layer of vegan cream cheese to start!

1 Puff pastry sheet, thawed--we used phylo dough
1 Bunch of Leeks, thoroughly washed off of all grit
1 Red onion
1 Vidalia onion
2 Cloves garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a baking sheet with non stick spray and lay out pastry sheet and set aside. Preheat a sauté pan to medium heat and add a tough of olive oil. Roughly chop cleaned leeks and add to sauté pan, mixing to coat with oil. Slice Red and Vidalia onions and add to leeks. Let this sauté for a few minutes, cooking down. Adjust heat as needed, making sure not to burn leek mixture. Mince 2 cloves of garlic and add to leek mixture, stirring to combine. When leek mixture has cooked down, remove from heat and add to puff pastry sheet, starting in from about ¼ inch. Put in oven and cook for 12-15 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove from oven and let sit about 5 minutes to cool. Cut into pieces and serve with a knife and fork or pick up from the edges like a pizza and eat!

Personal Note: I added nutritional yeast, pesto and vegan mozzarella in between the 8 layers of phylo dough. SO DECADENT!!!